Culturespaces Opens its first site for Immersive Art in Germany

On January 28, 2023, Culturespaces will open “Phoenix des Lumières”, its first digital art center in Germany. The French company, based in Paris, was founded in 1990 by Bruno Monnier and since 2012 has been a provider of digital art centers with nine locations today in cities such as Paris (cp. EAP 3/2020), Amsterdam, Dubai and New York, and from the end of January also in Dortmund. The concept of the company is to stage digital exhibitions with the works of classic, but also contemporary artists in unusual locations as an immersive experience. In Dortmund, a former gas blast hall that is part of the famous Phoenix West blast furnace – located on Phoenixplatz, 15 minutes from downtown Dortmund – was chosen for this purpose.

Here, on more than 2,200 square meters of floor space and 5,600 square meters of projection area, the paintings of well-known artists are projected onto walls up to 13 meters high with the help of 110 video projectors. The painters, their works and their immersive worlds are to change at intervals of up to one year. As soon as open, visitors can look forward here to works from a century of Viennese painting by Gustav Klimt and Friedensreich Hundertwasser. Well-known works of art such as Klimt’s “The Kiss” can then be viewed from new perspectives on the walls and floor. The immersive staging will be supported by background music by Italien composer and musician Luca Longobardi. The design of graphics and animation is implemented by Cutback Production: Culturespaces Digital^®. In addition, it is also possible to visit the contemporary art exhibition “Journey” here, which explores the creation of photons (elementary particles).

In addition to the exhibition hall, the center in Dortmund also offers educational areas, a small museum and a selfie room. Germany’s next center, called “Port des Lumières”, is already scheduled to open in the new Westfield Hamburg-Überseequartier in the fall of 2023. (eap)